Joel Paterson: Interview

One of the very bright lights in the world of American roots music is a guitarist, vocalist and songwriter out of Chicago, Joel Paterson. Enjoy a conversation I had with this rather remarkable musician.

David Mac (DM): Where are you from originally?

Joel Paterson (JP): I’m actually from Madison, Wisconsin, two hours north of Chicago.

DM: Let’s talk about your musical background and development as a musician in Madison.

JP: I started playing guitar in the mid 80’s. I borrowed a guitar from somebody and tried to teach myself by ear and immediately got into the blues. My mom actually had a Lightnin’ Hopkins LP, The Best of Lightnin' Hopkins on the Tradition/Everest label. I put that record on when I first started playing guitar. You know everything was in “E”. I’m like “I’ve got to learn this”. I just learned all the songs on that record. I just wanted to play country blues. Then I got obsessed with Blind Blake. That taught me the thumb patterns right away. There was this record store in Madison that had all the Yazoo LPs. I started buying everything I could get my hands on.

DM: How old were you?

JP: I was around fourteen or so.

DM: Did you any other kids, friends, classmates listen to this type of music?

JP: Nobody I knew back then. Now it seems a little more trendy for people to listen to that stuff, but back then nobody was listening to the old stuff. I was kind of obsessed with this music and ignored the 80s music scene completely.

DM: Good move. Did you have a mentor or someone who you could identify with outside of listening to recordings?

JP: Actually, there was a cool street performer in Madison, this older guy named Catfish. Well, I guess he wasn’t that old but he’s older than I was. I was fifteen when I met him. He played country blues, you know a lot of Robert Johnson stuff. He influenced me a lot.

Then when I went to college, I met this guy named Todd Cambio, and he played upright bass. He was into country blues as well. We had a little duo that played on the street. It was my first gig playing Delta blues. We did pretty good after football games.

DM: I have never been to Madison but I am guessing it is, for lack of a better description, a college town, which means it probably is a pretty hip place.

JP: That’s exactly what it is. It’s a great music town. There’s all these great little bars that have been around forever. It’s a really good blues town. They’ve always had great little blues bars and a lot of bands from Chicago from the 70s and 80s would come up and play in Madison. That’s how I got into the blues scene, seeing these Chicago guys in the 80s come up and play in these little bars in Madison.

DM: I first became aware of your music in 2000 through the group, The Four Charms and the album Flatland Boogie which just floored me and a lot of other people for that matter. How did you meet the band’s leader, vocalist and bass player, Jimmy Sutton?

JP: He was in a band, The Mighty Blues Kings back when I met him.

DM: When was that?

JP: Let’s see. It was in the mid-nineties...probably ‘96. I met him in Milwaukee. I was playing in a blues band with Jim Liban. He’s kind of a legendary harmonica player in the area. He doesn’t travel much so people don’t know him too well but he’s one of the best harmonica players I’ve ever heard. He lives in Milwaukee. That was one of my first paying gigs, playing guitar with Liban. We’re playing this little blues bar in Milwaukee and Jimmy wandered in after a Mighty Blues Kings show. They were in town playing somewhere, and he was kind of eyeballing me thinking, “Who is this guy who plays all this old stuff?” He’d never heard of me. We hit it off and we started playing gigs together in Madison. Then we made the move to Chicago in 1998.

I've spent a few years playing with a band called, Devil in a Woodpile. We are very well known in Chicago. We play all kind of 20s acoustic and ragtime stuff. We put out material on Bloodshot records.

DM: When did you form your band, The Modern Sounds with Beau Sample and Alex Hall?

JP: I think the year was around 2007, I knew Alex Hall because he lived in Chicago and I had played with him. Beau Sample lived in Austin and he needed a change of scenery. He said “I want to move to Chicago.” I thought that was kind of crazy, moving away from Austin, but he came here and we immediately started a band.

DM: The Modern Sounds not only have made some pretty extraordinary records in my view, but have backed some great artists as well.

JP: We played on the Deke Dickerson live record called, Live at Duffs and we backed pianist, Carl “Sonny” Leyland. We put out Carl’s record and I did the cover for the Deke project so that was sort of a joint project. Carl’s CD is great. It’s a very 1930s Bluebird blues, a little jazz and boogie woogie kind of thing. We recorded that in one day. It took just a few hours to complete the entire record.

DM: That music is right in Carl’s wheelhouse.

JP: Yea I know. It’s very frustrating that Carl and I don’t live closer together. I feel like we should be playing together because we match up really well.

DM: He doesn’t live close to anyone….

JP: (Laughs) I actually looked him up on Google maps and there was nothing, I didn’t even see a house.

DM: (Laughs) He is in a pretty remote location that’s for sure. So back to the The Modern Sounds, the first CD that is in the library is really two CDs.

JP: That was the first record(s) we put out. They are called, Hold it Fellas, It’s the Modern Sounds and Stomp Stomp. We divided the music up so each record has a different style of music. Stomp Stomp has more of our jazz material. These records I believe are our best known recordings.

DM: Let’s talk about your label Ventrella Records and Tapes. You are putting out a lot of music.

JP: Oh yeah. We don’t mess around. We put them out pretty fast. We record them and then I put them out. I do all the label work. It’s really hard to stay on top of promotion and stuff but the best part of that is we can put out whatever records we want and whenever we want. As soon as we pay off the credit card for the manufacturing (chuckles), we put out a new one. So that’s how we can put so many crazy styles out and obviously nobody knows how to classify us which is a blessing and a curse.

DM: You do hit on all kinds of musical genres. I, for one, find it interesting and very entertaining. You are one of the most eclectic recording artists out there and you are good at everything.

JP: Well...I don’t know about that. I appreciate that though. Eclectic is a nice way to put it. A lot of people think I’m crazy and can’t figure out what I’m doing. I wish more blues people in particular were like you who understand what we’re doing and could appreciate all the different styles.

JP: I make my living playing blues, jazz, swing and rockabilly in Chicago. The blues people can’t figure me out. The jazz people can’t figure me out. I’m lucky though to have my own little niche because I play with really great musicians. We can kind of create our own little genre. It is, as you might imagine, a pretty tricky tap dance. When we play Modern Sounds gigs in Chicago, we play a lot of rockin’ gigs but then we also play a lot of jazz clubs around here. That’s where we do more of our instrumental jazz sets. We change it all the time. That’s just the nature of being a working musician. We are kind of a dying breed but in Chicago you have to be flexible. If I played the one style, I wouldn’t get enough work. I’m lucky. I don’t have to play what I don’t like these days.

DM: That in and of itself is a wonderful thing. The new recording reflects that flexibility that you talked about when you are doing gigs

JP: That’s right. I thought on The Modern Sounds Sing and Play For You we could make it like an old LP. Side “A” could have all the vocal tracks and side “B” could be all the jazz instrumentals.

DM: It’s like a Freddy King 45 from the Federal years, vocal on one side, instrumental on the other. Even popular music, they’d throw the instrumental on the B side. It was considered a throw away...I mean the MGs’ Green Onions was “B” side to a vocal track. Some DJ just accidently played the wrong side and the rest is history...

JP: That’s the best song ever. I always went for the “B” side, which I always liked better, which is funny you know I’m the opposite of most people.

DM: I’m the same way but don’t get me wrong, I love great vocals. Speaking of which, all three members of the Modern Sounds are singers.

JP: That’s right. We are three guys who aren’t like superstar, lead singers but when we actually all sing three part harmony it ends up sounding really good. I think it sounds better than when we sing individually.

DM: One of the things, maybe it’s a small thing but I get a kick out of it is the CD packaging and liner notes. It reminds me of the old vinyl jazz records my dad listened to when I was a kid.

JP: That is the idea. It’s not a small thing. That’s why I spend so much time on the covers. People might want to have art instead of just downloading them or burning them. I think it helps sell CDs. Back in the day, when you bought a record, you wanted to have the cover and you wanted to look at it when you listened to the album.

DM: There was something very special about holding the album in your hands. There was a pride of ownership. Reading the liner notes on the back of the album cover was part of the fun. It is a real nostalgic experience reading the notes on the back of Ventrella Records. It cracks me up actually.

JP: On the Ventrella records I write these campy 50s style liner notes under a fake name because I think back in the day the liner notes on many of those old records were obviously written by some ad executive who had never heard the music. They’re kind of hilarious. So I took that approach.

DM: The name of the band itself is a throw back..

JP: I think the name confuses everybody, The Modern Sounds, nobody understands it. Basically we named it after a Ray Charles record, Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music. We also named it after the Modern Record label. Basically, we were trying to come up with a name that had a vintage ring to it. We wanted to have a name that sounded like what a band would name themselves if they were in the “modern era of the 1950’s”. I always liked the word “modern” because it always had an ironically vintage sound to me. Once people understand our name they like it, but most of the time we get a lot of blank stares with it.

DM: Joel, anytime you’re playing the kind of music you’re playing in 2013, blank stares probably come with the territory.

JP: (laughs) Yeah

DM: Let’s talk about your new solo album, Handful of Strings. For starters you didn’t write the liner notes.

JP: That’s right. I thought this record needed some actual liner notes and Deke Dickerson is a great writer. I knew he would know where I was coming from.

DM: He nailed it. The record is definitely a nod to your fellow Wisconsinite, Les Paul.

JP: Yep, absolutely Les Paul and Buddy Merrill made multi-track records and also a guy who is one of my favorite guitar players, Jorgen Ingmann. Not many people have heard of him.

DM: Apache!

JP: That’s the guy. He made some pretty tasty records in the 60s, but he also made two jazz records in the 50s that are amazing. He takes the Les Paul style and does something different with it. I just recorded it in a little tiny bedroom here in Chicago. I just wanted to record the guitar with the mic on amp, very clean, just let the guitar and the amp make the tone, so that’s basically what you hear. I wanted a very pure dry sound.

DM: You actually have some steel guitar on Handful of Strings. I know you put out an entire album of pedal steel music some time back.

JP: Most of it is actually lap steel but there are two are three songs that have the full pedal on it. The all steel album is called, Steel is Real. I went through a pretty heavy pedal steel phase a few years ago. I think it came out in 2008. I just wanted to do a steel guitar instrumental record. That’s a really small market (chuckles). That record turned out pretty good. It has a nice sound.

DM: One thing I noticed while listening to the new record for the first time by the time I get to the 12th track I thought, ‘wait a minute this just turned into a blues record.’

JP: (chuckling) Yeah I kind of recorded everything randomly. I tried to record whatever I was inspired to do at the moment and at the end I’m like “well what am I going to do for the song order, this is a crazy record. It makes no sense.” So basically, I decided I am going to put it in chronological order based on the different styles. I started with some early 50s western swing, Les Paul sound. Then I went and put a little late 50s hi-fi, easy listening. I eventually end up in the early 60s blues.’ That’s how I did the song order. It wasn’t the plan when I was recording it but it sort of worked out that way. The tune Fender Freeze is obviously Albert Collins influenced, kind of like Les Paul harmony meets Albert Collins, which is kind of crazy but it makes sense in my brain.

DM: How about the tune, Mable’s Rock, is there anything there about that particular song?

JP: I just kind of thought, well I should do a straight ahead rock and roll song but then put the three part harmonies, like Les Paul style harmonies, on a rock and roll song. I just wanted to see if that would work, so I was just fooling around with that. Mable’s Rock is named after my girlfriend’s niece. She was born right as I was putting the record out and I thought that was a cool name, Mable. But it was just an experiment to see if I could do the straight ahead rock and roll with the three part harmonies.

DM: On March 16th Blind Pig Records put out the new album by the Cash Box Kings, Black Toppin. I was a huge fan of the 2011 record by the band called, Holler and Stomp and this CD has a similar feel to it.

JP: We recorded it in much the same way. We just go into the studio, try to find a good vibe and play bluesy. It’s pretty loose but it works. There is a lot of guitar on there.

DM: I know we have covered a lot of ground and I am also aware that with all the work you have done we have left a few things out but I am anxious to know what you are working on now.

JP: Basically right now the main things I have going on is the Modern Sounds. We play a lot of gigs. I have a blues band that hasn’t recorded yet with a guy named Rick Sherry from the Devil in a Woodpile band and that’s probably going to be my next recording project. We are doing some real early 50s kind of country blues meets electric blues styles

The other thing I have, I want to record the organ trio I’m playing with right now which is very exciting. We play every Sunday night at the Green Mill in Chicago and that’s with Chris Forman. He is a legendary Hammond organ player in Chicago and we’re doing material that leans heavily on Jimmy McGriff stuff from the 60s which is a thrill to play with an organ player who can play like that.

DM: I love that sound

JP: It’s a lot of fun. It’s a big kick in the butt playing with him too because he’s moving so many chords around all the time and I’m just trying to keep up with him. It’s kind of like Jimmy McGriff meets Freddy King. We do a lot of bluesy soul jazz stuff that’s just great.

Believe me, I got the Handful of Strings out of my system. I don’t know that I’m going to sit in my bedroom alone for something like that again anytime soon because it took forever to record all those tracks and write all those songs. The next record I want to be live with other human beings around (laughs).

I have a lot of little projects. Oh I almost forgot. I have a great little country band. We play regularly in Chicago. That’s my one gig where I play pedal steel. Jimmy Sutton is in that band. We play honky tonk and western swing. The band is called the Western Elstons. There’s actually an intersection in Chicago, Western and Elston and that’s where I got the band name just driving down the street.

DM: You play virtually every style of roots music I can think of….

JP: I dabble in everything except, sorry Dave, no surf music.

DM: (laughs) No apology necessary. I have seen the waves on Lake Michigan.

JP: That’s the only thing I haven’t dabbled in is surf music. I guess it’s not bluesy enough for me. Everything I play has to be somewhat related to the blues or I don’t really do it.

DM: Yet to a lot of listeners all these different styles you play might seem somewhat disparate from one another, but somehow you manage to find some common ground in your playing. Is that a fair assessment?

JP: Yeah that’s what I try to do. I think that’s what actually used to happen back in the day because when I hear those guitars, all those session musicians like Hank Garland for instance, one day Hank Garland is playing an amazing jazz session and the next day he’s playing the guitar solo on Little Sister by Elvis.

DM: How about Barney Kessell? He is considered a jazz cat but cut those amazing blues sides with T-Bone Walker in the 50’s for Atlantic.

JP: Exactly! People have a hard time with that because they don’t understand a lot of the musicians were studio jazz musicians playing all this R&B and rock and roll. All the country guys back in the day could play jazz. Some of the best jazz players ever are these country guys out of Nashville. So I think there’s a tradition of that a lot of folks may not understand.

DM: Without asking that question who are your influences and who are your musical heroes, I think I just now figured out the answer to those questions.

JP: You figured it out Dave. Those are my heroes, those great session musicians who play all those styles. I feel like I should have been playing back in the day when there was market for guys like that.

DM: I hope there will always be a market for great musicians like you Joel.